I'm planning on brewing my first stout and am looking for any good advice out there. It is going to be a a mini mash, probably gonna throw in some roasted barley, black patent, chocolate malt and maybe some dark crystal along with LME DME and some adjuncts.

anyways the main things I'm looking for are high ABV, good carbonation, good head retention, nice creamy mouthfeel, and especially a high FG so that I can make a good black velvet where the beer and cider stay separated.

Maybe add some maltodexterin or lactose. Will help with and high FG and mouthfeel. Are you going for a RIS, a lot of stouts don't have high abv. I like to go a little higher on ibu than most styles call for, but I do it with low AA hops.

Maybe add some maltodexterin or lactose. Will help with abv and mouthfeel. Are you going for a RIS, a lot of stouts don't have high abv. I like to go a little higher on ibu than most styles call for, but I don't with low AA hops.

I don't think maltodextrine or lactose will help with ABV, but they will help with body. You will need more fermentables to get higher ABV. When you add the extra fermentable stuff, make sure to add some more hops to balance the sweetness of the malt. Probably google stout recipes or check the recipe portion of this forum. That way you will find something at least somewhat proven and will likely be well balanced. Or you could check your LHBS. Mine has a decent selection of recipes. Good luck and have fun.

Thanks for the advice. Yes as for hops i think i will go with a healthy dose of goldings and/or fuggles.
In terms of the lactose, I am very much intrigued, but have not used it before. What is the deal with lactose, what does it do exactly and how do you use it?

Flaked oats, lactose, and add just a little bit of espresso (1/2 shot) at flameout. Some people doubt me on the espresso, but if you want a great breakfast stout, it's a nice touch. Make sure you add the oats last into the mash tun to keep it as close to the top of the grain bed as possible. Had a near stuck sparge last time, but luckily I was able to coax it all out.

Thanks for the advice. Yes as for hops i think i will go with a healthy dose of goldings and/or fuggles.
In terms of the lactose, I am very much intrigued, but have not used it before. What is the deal with lactose, what does it do exactly and how do you use it?

I'm prettty sure lactose is for sweetening up for milk/sweet stouts.

It might be hard to get a big head with a high alc stout. My RIS is around 12% and after 3 months in bottle, I get nothing, lol.

I recommend looking at the database recipes. That helped me put together my recipe. My recipe is the Extract forum if you want to search for it. It's very good.

A lot of stouts use just black malt for the color portion. Some use a combination of roast and black. Some add some crystal. Much of the time, you don't have a combination of black, roast, chocolate and crystal 120. You have a dark malt, some crystal and pale malt. Some stouts use wheat to improve head retention. Oats are a consideration for mouthfeel. Dry stouts tend to attenuate very well; you won't get a high FG from them.

There's a lot of information around on stouts. Designing Great Beers has a chapter on them. The Jamil Show has done them.

Right on dudes, i will be sure to include crystal, oats, and maybe some wheat. To aid in the head retention and higher FG.
Think ill put in some coffee at flameout and vanilla beans in the fermentor.
As for ABV on the RIS hopefully ill keep it under 10 so as to prevent excessive drunkness as I enjoy consuming many beer at a time, however, whatever.
Still would love to hear more about what people think about adding lactose. benefits? anybody tried this before, what we're you're results?